Megabus investigations prompt tire warning

Illinois State Police and emergency personnel prepare to remove a Megabus interstate bus that struck an overpass on I-55 five miles north of Litchfield, Ill.

Illinois State Police and emergency personnel prepare to remove a Megabus interstate bus that struck an overpass on I-55 five miles north of Litchfield, Ill. (Sid Hastings, for the Chicago Tribune)

By Jon HilkevitchTribune reporter

Investigations into the fatal Megabus accident in downstate Illinois and other recent high-speed crashes have prompted an emergency bulletin to motorcoach companies nationwide about weight limits on tires when double-deck buses are fully loaded, officials said today.

The bulletin issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration cautioned motorcoach companies to prevent tire failures by properly loading passengers and cargo and increasing pressure in tires on the rear wheels to the maximum marked on the tires when buses are carrying heavy loads.

They included an accident Aug. 2 on Interstate Highway 55 near Litchfield in southern Illinois that killed one Megabus passenger and injured dozens of others when the bus carrying 70 passengers from Chicago crashed into an overpass.

Illinois State Police said the accident may have started with a blown tire that caused the bus driver to lose control.

Another accident involved a Megabus that caught fire Aug. 8 after a tire blew out on Interstate Highway 85 near Lavonia, Ga. No one was hurt in that incident, police said.

The buses in both incidents were heavily loaded and operating on extremely hot days, two key factors that cause stress on tires, authorities said.

“A tire on a motorcoach loaded beyond its weight rating and operated at highway speeds for a significant period of time is more likely to overheat and fail, potentially placing the safety of passengers and other motorists at risk,’’ the motor carrier agency said in a statement.

The ongoing investigations into both crashes “show potential safety concerns related to double-deck buses that may overload tires outside the suggested weight limit,’’ the agency said. “Under specific circumstances motorcoaches ultilizing the double-deck design may be susceptible to exceeding the tire weight limit when loaded with passengers and luggage at full capacity.’’

The bulletin called on bus companies to have procedures in place to monitor the loading of their vehicles and to make sure they are not driving on damaged or worn tires.

Megabus, a low-cost service that provides curbside service and does not operate any bus stations equipped with scales, loads passengers and their baggage on the street on a first-come, first-served basis.

The bulletin said bus operators should reduce passenger and cargo loads, seat passengers evenly throughout the bus and increase tire pressure when appropriate, to ensure the tires remain within the allowable tire weight rating and state vehicle weight limits.

The weight limit for double-deck buses is 80,000 pounds, which is the same limit as for other interstate passenger buses, according to the motor carrier agency.

But the three-axle configuration on Megabus vehicles allows a lower gross vehicle weight, between 53,000 and 61,000 pounds, officials said.

A fully loaded double-deck motorcoach could exceed the weight limit or the tire weight ratings, according to officials, who declined to provide the weight of the accident bus near Litchfield.

Federal officials said they are working with the states to increase enforcement of safety regulations in connection with the inter-city bus industry.

They said bus companies that violate tire-loading restrictions may be declared an “imminent hazard’’ and immediately placed out of service.

The Megabus coach that crashed en route from Chicago, killing a graduate student from University of Missouri, was manufactured last year and “had passed a full preventative maintenance check within the past week,” the company says.

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